


To Never Give Up

by Cold_Gold_Heart



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Gen, Happy birthday Takeda!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-27 06:51:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13242831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cold_Gold_Heart/pseuds/Cold_Gold_Heart
Summary: Kenji looks at the team he's advising (well, not really) and thinks—wow, he wishes he had something like that back then, too.





	To Never Give Up

**Author's Note:**

> Why did I write this?

When Kenji looked at these boys (and girl), he couldn’t help but smile. They reminded him of when _he_ was still in high school, when he could run with ease and not care about making a living. He had never been the studious type, although his parents wished he was. Instead of studying, he spent his time trying many things out: painting, the koto, basketball and various arts or sports. None of them really stuck, but he enjoyed all of them. He looked back on those memories with fondness. It was nice, to live without fear of anything—to be stupid. He hadn’t cared about anything serious back then. Not the college entrance exams, nor the nagging of his mother, nor the disappointment of his father—not even the war. He really had been a carefree spirit back then, hadn’t he?

The one he saw himself the most in was the catlike child. He acted a little like an airhead and seemed to live for fun. And _friendship_. If there was one thing Kenji wish he had in high school, it was good friendship. Friends were just like his activities. They never stuck. The cat boy, who he later remembered was Koganei Shinji, had a best friend, who was kind and quiet. It was strange to be jealous of a high schooler, but he was. He didn’t even meet his first and only lasting friend until after he finished college, who ended up becoming his wife.

He wondered how Ryouji, his only child, was doing in Akita. Although Kenji was usually too busy working in any junior high school or high school that would accept him, he did love his son and missed his presence very much. He only came home every other weekend—sometimes, even less often because there was so much to work on. He was only glad Ryouji was more like his mother, who was more focused and serious than Kenji. However, he also seemed to be terrible at keeping friends, like Kenji. He could tell it was hard on the boy. His wife told him that his son came home, one day, asking why no one wanted to walk home with him. He was _the_ outsider.

Kenji was so afraid that his son was still living his life thinking that he would have no lasting friendships. Ryouji was still so young—he had a chance. He just had to have the strength to believe in others.

That was what he found so amazing about the Seirin basketball team. They seemed to believe in others so easily. Especially the one kid who seemed to disappear all the time—or did he really?

Kenji didn’t know how, but he could sense something was a little off with the ghost boy. It was as if he was just waiting for the people surrounding him to give up on him. So, although they probably didn’t need his advice, he told the girl (Aida Riko, he learned) that they should not only never give up—they should also believe that no one would ever give up on them.

A little faith in others really did take you places, after all.


End file.
